Brahmajalasutta 2.5
Brahmajala Sutta (Dialogues of the Buddha) 2.5
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2.5
‘On this, brethren, the one who was first reborn thinks thus to himself: “I am Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days the Father of all that are and are to be. ‘These other beings are of my creation. And why is that so? A while ago I thought, ‘Would that they might come!’ And on my mental aspiration, behold the beings came.”
‘And those beings themselves, too, think thus: “This must be Brahmā,, the Great Brahmā, the Supreme, the Mighty, the All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are and are to be. And we must have been created by him. And why? Because, as we see, it was he who was here first, and we came after that.”
2.5.n1
This string of epithets recurs at M. I, 327 in the course of the story of the Brahmā, named Baka, who is represented as coming to the very conclusion set out in our section. The story was a favourite one, and three recessions of it have been preserved (M. I, 326-331; S. I, 142-144, and Jāt. No. 405). Mr. Crow evidently considered himself the Mahā Brahmā of the period. The omission in the Dialogue of all reference to the Kesava Birth Story may be a sign of greater age or it may be due simply to the fact that it is not required for the argument there.
Linked texts (1)
- Brahmajālasutta — Pāli